2020 New Year messages from Republican Atheists’ Leadership and Correspondents
2019 was an amazing year for Republican Atheists! I want to give a big thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time to represent the organization and help it progress. It is fantastic to have increasing numbers of people register to be correspondents and to serve as a point of contact in their state. The more representation the organization has, the better! I am sure 2020 will also be an amazing year. It is also a very important year for America and the world. Thank you for your support.
– Lauren Ell
President & Founder
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What is the point of Republican Atheists? From my point of view, our purpose is two-fold. We want to send a single message to two opposite groups. We want to challenge the widespread assumption that atheism and political Leftism are joined at the hip. That where you find the one you will naturally find the other. You and I are living refutations of that belief. To the one group, American Christians, we want to assure them we are not their foes. Though we ourselves happen not to believe in God, we do not, like some vocal atheists, begrudge Christians their faith. We are not evangelists for atheism. I think that, once this is understood, Christians can welcome our efforts in behalf of traditional values we share with them. We also seek to speak to the other group, atheists who reject any religious creed but seem to demand allegiance to a political creed: Leftism. They view us as heretics, living contradictions in terms. As with all inflexible faith- stances, these militant atheists will never be convinced to take a different view, like ours.
But we do hope to let politically conservative atheists know there is a team to which they can belong: Republican Atheists. We need to explain our preference for political conservatism and our rejection of political Leftism. As part of that, we need to show how conservative views and values are in no way dependent upon Christian beliefs. These are great challenges only because we are still “voices crying in the wilderness.” What we need is not better arguments, for ours are quite cogent, but rather an audience willing to listen. We need to make it completely clear that, while we not Christians, we are, like most Christians, patriotic Americans.
– Dr. Robert M. Price
Board Member, North Carolina Correspondent
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For 2020,
Board Member, Texas Correspondent
Happy New Year – 2020!
As we head into an election year, I can’t help but feel hopeful for Republicans everywhere. Watching the
Democratic debates and listening to the DNC agenda for the U.S., I’m confident Trump will win re-election. While liberals in Congress have focused on wasting tax payer dollars on illegal immigrants,
confusing each other on which bathroom to use and calling conservatives racist, the Trump
administration has put Americans first by making us energy independent, balancing international trade
deals and targeting our enemies. I’m honestly not sure what other Presidents in recent history were
doing in the oval office.
When it comes to elections, everyone talks about the battleground states, and because our country is so
vast and so diverse, this is very important today. However, it doesn’t matter which state or region of the
country you live in, liberals will come out in force to attempt to defeat the “bad orange man.” I know I’ll
be voting red from New York this November. I think this election will have a huge voter turnout on both
sides. The GOP needs to count on all Republicans, religious and atheist alike. Let’s have the silent
majority be heard!
Now it’s officially 2020, and that means elections are about a month away for some. Others have their primary election candidates on the ballot. For anyone who wants to be involved, local GOP groups are always looking for new members. People can find their local groups though the GOP’s main website www.gop.com. Many will have the option to pay to join and then they can listen/vote on endorsements for local candidates. That has been the process in Illinois. Also, many state GOP’s will have a state level convention this year. After the primaries, there will be a convention to formalize the delegations that will vote for the GOP nomination. In all likelihood it will be President Trump. However, at the state level, there is an opportunity to vote on the states GOP platform, which is the governing body of beliefs for the state party. The same thing will happen at the national level in North Carolina in August (https://www.
– Steve Anderson
Much love and gratitude from Georgia.
– Chris Jensen
Georgia Correspondent
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On December 19th we finally had a day with no flood warnings anywhere in our state for the first time in 318 days. Though the majority of Nebraska had been effected by extreme weather events much of the year, the resiliency of the citizens and their helping and caring nature shone brightly in the aftermath. We look forward to 2020 as a year of continued recovery. Republican Atheists are active in the state though our numbers are currently small. We would love to hear from you!
– Jen Young
Nebraska Correspondent
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Let’s take back the house and our local governments this year Republican Atheists!
– Anthony Episcopo
Nevada Correspondent
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This should be an interesting year for the nation, but let’s be real: most of us don’t live in swing states, and being Republicans who are also lacking in the higher power department, it means we’re going to be a little more marginal than usual.
For me, I’m taking this year to double down on the stuff that makes a difference. Yeah, it means more time in my community and with my family, but it also means being more active in the day-to-day politics that matter.
Looking to make a splash and get the message out there?
• Run for local office. Maybe it’s your local planning board, maybe your library board. Maybe you’re ambitious and see city council or school committee openings. Either way, you have an opportunity not only to help your community, but to model what you believe a Republican less interested in the religious-side-of-the-right can look like.
• Write more letters. Sounds silly, but it shows an effort to your local representatives that you’re paying attention and keeping them honest. The offices track this stuff, and it’s worth doing if just for the collection of letters and emails you’ll get in response.
• Find that one thing that matters and do it. Maybe it’s exposing your kids to the political process. Maybe it’s finding that weird thing going on in town and trying to fix it. Maybe it’s reading an extra book a month. Whatever it is, make this year the year you do it.
Looking forward to hopefully working with more of you this year and finding that common ground with a public who doesn’t know where that ground is yet. Best to you and yours.
-Jeff Raymond
Massachusetts Correspondent
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New year new me is such a cliche. 2019 treated me well. I continued working my job in the utility industry, enjoyed lots of outdoor time in the four corners area and got married to the best man I have ever met. 2020 should be a good year too. I will begin tentatively looking for new employment as the company I work for is adopting aggressive renewable energy standards and planning on closing the coal fire plant I planned to retire from. It’s unfortunate, and not what my local area wants, but it appears inevitable. I am optimistic though.
As Republican Atheists continues to grow I hope to see more positive movements in conservative opinions of atheism (because the left has really given atheism a poor image). I also hope to understand issues more in depth so that I am more eloquent in explaining my views. For myself, I hope to represent conservatives and atheism the best that I can.
– Erin Raines
New Mexico Correspondent
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Many religious politicians and political figures really think you need a belief in god to be good. In 2019 I reached out on social media platforms to people like Dennis Prager and local politician Rick Saccone. Most of them say they have never met a non-believer like me. Let’s show the world you don’t need a belief in god to be good or to be a conservative. Reach out when you notice something in their message that shows they have forgotten us.
– Sonya Gornick
Pennsylvania Correspondent
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Some thoughts on Atheism, Republicanism and Trumpism going into 2020……
It is a new year and I suppose we should all be looking into what we can do to support atheism from a pro-American, pro-capitalist standpoint. How do we promote ourselves to Republicans who will recoil from our atheism and atheists that recoil from our republicanism? It is certainly a tough sell we have.
I think that the best we can do is to be sure we are informed as well as we can be on issues. We need to have a good grasp on economics, philosophy and constitutional issues. Moreover, we need a grasp on our opponent’s issues and ideas. This second part is probably the tougher of the two as listening to the rhetoric of the left is certainly tiring and emotionally insulting. However, we need to endure in order to address his or her points accurately on the occasion you find someone on the left that is being intellectually dishonest. Our most productive moments will be then.
I know for my part I am trying to remain civil. This is a tall order for me as in my age my patience for nonsense and rhetorical trickery from the left is at an end. Smug-faux intellectualism and virtue signaling has taken its toll on my psyche. However, I understand to pursue not your opponent, but the onlookers who are undecided, means trying to be cool and present clear ideas.
We have to be careful to not be ideological robots just listing statistics and facts. Humor and self -awareness can be very persuasive tools to win the minds of the undecided. A judicial use of a joke or comedy to push an idea can be very effective. It is important to remember (especially as Atheists) that people decide on things as much with their emotions as their minds. The great success the right has had in recent years I would attribute to humor especially. The great failure of the left is its nanny-like scoldings and virtue signaling tantrums.
To those on “our side” of the political spectrum who may be skeptical of Republican Atheists as a group, I would say remind them: There is nothing religious about economics. One doesn’t need to understand biblical passage to know how to clean an AR-15. You don’t need to receive communion to want the voter rolls accurate and you don’t need to have prayer taught in school in order to have proper civics taught.
Secular conservatism is a thing. I might argue it is the main thing as I view America as the first iteration of a classical liberal government run by evidence and secular derived ideas of individual freedom and governance.
Erik Ryfa
Rhode Island Correspondent
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Happy New Year to our very small but critical group of conservative-minded atheists. We are a tenacious and enduring group ostracized in large part by the bulk of each major political party. But we will increase our numbers in part because of our unclouded and correct view of politics and religion despite the overwhelming majority. Or, as Christopher Hitchens once said regarding being in the minority of a position, “My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line, and kiss my ass.”
– Ramon Homan
Utah Correspondent
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Happy New Year. I am very much looking forward to this coming election year. I will be volunteering with the state GOP, and hopefully will learn how they operate and have a chance to raise some awareness. Of course, the Democratic National Convention will be in Milwaukee, which is about a hour away for me, so I will visit that just to give an update.
– Stephen Moore
Wisconsin Correspondent
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I have only very recently been added as a Correspondent. Hopefully being a little late to the party is better than never. I want to thank Lauren for adding me. Having been a follower of just about every conservative type of atheist page, there’s no doubt that what she has done here is remarkable.
At this point, I simply want to reach out to all, and particularly to those in South Carolina. South Carolina can be a little tricky place live as a non-believer. Making connections with like-minded people is always a good thing.
Other than helping to support the cause of individual liberty and free market ideas in general, I feel my function with RA might be finding non-believers that may not believe all the ideas of the left, but think that only the evangelical types can be Republican. Maybe by letting people know we’re here can help. Thank you again for having me.
– Jake Goss
South Carolina Correspondent
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